June 2, 2014 6:33 pm

Here’s what Russell Wilson had to say Monday:

(On if he’s been able to appreciate what having Percy Harvin back will mean to the offense…) “Yeah, the receivers, to be honest with you, that’s been the best looking position so far – with our offense, at least. They’ve done a tremendous job. Their knowledge of the game, their explosiveness, Percy Harvin being out there finally healthy. He feels great, he looks great, he’s catching the ball extremely well. Doug Baldwin is looking exceptional. Jermaine Kearse – you’ve got some young guys too that are stepping up. There’s so many guys I can name down the list to be honest with you. It’s been a lot of fun. They’ve been exceptional. But to have Percy on the field brings another added dimension to our offense in terms of the speed and what he can do running the football too. The reverse things and all those things he can do, as you guys saw in the Super Bowl. He was something special.”

(On if it’s a faster group now with Paul Richardson in the mix…) “Yeah, our receivers right now are as fast as it gets. You’ve got Percy Harvin, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse is extremely fast too. Then you add Paul Richardson who you saw today went for that deep, deep ball that I threw to him. He’s looking exceptional as well. So I think our receiver group is probably one of the faster in the league right now, based on who we have.”

(On being a Super Bowl winning quarterback and if it’s been hard to balance all the extra things that have been on his plate this offseason…) “No, not at all. It’s been one of those things – I stay pretty organized. I stay focused on what I need to stay focused on and getting ready for football. It’s been an exceptional offseason for me so far in terms of getting prepared for that. My body feels great, my arm feels strong. My knowledge of the game has just grown so much more – exponentially more, I believe, at least – from year one to year two and year two to year three. Playing in big games like the Super Bowl, that always helps. My goal is to continue to work on the fundamentals, continue to be engaged in the huddle and bring my guys with me and just be exceptional when we practice and hopefully when we hit the field when it comes game time, we do really well.”

(On the team’s offseason signings…) “Well we want to sign our best guys and obviously we’ve signed Earl [Thomas] and Richard Sherman and those guys are exceptional – the best guys in the league in terms of defensive side of the ball. To add those guys and Doug Baldwin, to add him and keep him on our team. He’s made some huge catches—I mean if you think back to last year and some of the big-time catches he’s made for us, in big games and big situations. He’s just every time. To add Doug Baldwin, Michael Bennett earlier on in the offseason – he was one of our best pass rushers last year, one of the best in the league so we want to keep our guys. Then the draft went extremely well to add some of the guys that we’ve added. So I think, to be honest with you, being out here I think the thing that I’ve noticed more than anything else is just the energy level. After winning, sometimes it can go either way. Sometimes you can kind of fall off and not stay focused or whatever. I think if anything, once we’ve been there, once we’ve tasted the Super Bowl and we accomplished that, we want it that much more again. We don’t talk about Super Bowls, we don’t talk about winning it again, we stay consistent with our words and that’s going 1-0 every day. And that’s coming out here and having a championship mindset and playing the right way and playing efficient football and getting the right guys that we need to keep – Doug Baldwin, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas. So that’s huge for us.”
(On what his goal is during OTAs…) “My biggest thing is just being balanced all the time. Just trying to be balanced because I can move extremely well but just making sure that I’m always balanced in terms of every throw that I make. That’s something that I always focus on every year – my footwork and being on time with the football. I’m not overdoing it. Sometimes you need a simple-thought things, too. I think that’s what it really is for me right now.”

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About

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

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Gotta admire the dude… You know this off-season must’ve been extremely difficult personally… But he’s back at it, more relentless than ever. Ultimately that is what’s going to separate him from the other QB’s of his generation. That unyielding desire to be the best ever is what drives some one to be truly one of the greats.

Bryan Walters – PS, if he is eligible. If not, I would rather have them cut B Walt than Channel 83. Walters is solid all around, kinda like Norwood, but Norwood seems more athletic. Lockette is just downright scary on KR and PR coverage. “Headhunter” comes to mind…

I think that is as good of a list as any CCVI.
IMHO … I agree with Dukeshire that Lockette is borderline depending on Rice and on how other injury situations are where back ups are needed (that can also play gunner). On the other hand watching him late last year on ST makes you want really to keep the guy. That was awesome to watch! I wouldn’t be too surprised if Rice was let go or put on PUP and we kept Lockette.

I think the real battle will be between Kearse and Norwood for a higher spot on the depth chart. Something like:

On Russell: He is, well, -exceptional- (it seems to be the word du jour…) Having been divorced, I know how the unraveling of a marriage can screw up every facet of life. I figure that Russ, always holding himself to the highest of standards, was all the more deeply wounded (explains December) I am so impressed by this -exceptional- young man…

Lockette: I was on-board early, and yes; he has had some great hits at the gunner position, but at the end of the day, he is an idiot. In fact, he is -exceptionally- idiotic, and will not be a Seahawk this year. Because we do not need idiots. Or at least I hope we don’t.

I think the starting wr will be Harvin and Rice. Baldwin gets in the 3wideout sets and Kearse added to the 4 wr sets. Norwood and PR will get very limited opportunities unless someone gets hurt. That’s why I’d love to see PR get the PR job to show his speed. I think Lockette is gone as is Walters. Mathews I believe that tall wr from Canadian league will get on the practice squad as insurance for if someone gets hurt. If Rice goes down early he’s done as far as hawks concerned.

Dang, I totally forgot about the new guys and Phil Bates, Arceto Clark.
They really don’t have much of a chance to make the 53 man roster. Matthews reminds me of Jurevicius, really tall with good hands but slow, almost a tweener between a WR and TE. Clark seems really quick, but he has 2 PH and ADB ahead of him so he’s PS fodder at best. And Bates has the prototypical SE physique but hasn’t been able to crack the roster really, and translate that to on field production. Don’t know much about Taylor Price except that he looks good on paper and RW had some good things to say about him. If PH and DB stay healthy I have no doubt we will have a sneaky good passing attack, if not downright explosive at times.

Our WR’s aren’t the biggest guys but they play big. A few years ago i never would have dreamed that we’d be so deep that it would be so hard to let people go that have promise. When cut downs begin we might even pick up some players that fit our scheme better and those choices will get even harder. I like the guys that we’ve locked up and our reputation for letting anybody get a shot at cracking the line-up will make us contenders for years. Pete’s mantra of “always compete” has changed this organization for years, i’m grateful. I have school friends that live in Medicine Hat, Calgary and Edmonton. There’s no reason i can’t meet more of you where your at, other than Diesel being $4 a gallon. I’m still hoping to make it up there. Most of my closest friends are from elementary school, grades 1-2 even.

Im totally biased against little WR’s: I hate ‘em! However, Arceto Clark just looked like a guy who belongs on an NFL field, at least to me. I have no idea how he can make the team, but the kids no joke. Bates has a steep learning curve, never having played WR in college, or at least not much; he was a qb. So he’s still learning to run routes etc. He did make a nice sideline catch in preseason his rookie year, but last year they tried him at FB and it was pathetic…

There’s no way Richardson and Norwood dont make the team; they’ve shown enough, barring an injury or complete collapse. That means Rice is on the bubble, along with Lockette and the rest.

Chuck–I think thats a very likely scenario you laid out. I still think Rice is on the bubble, healthy or no; he’s proven to be injury prone and even when healthy disappears in games. At his age, that doesnt bode well for his future in Seattle, especially since we have young talent behind him.

Im back to hoping he gets cut because with Norwood and Richardson looking good, and because I believe Kearse is already a better player than Rice, there really is no room for him.

Also, with the logjam at RB/FB and at LB, if we keep 6 WR’s then we lose someone very talented from one of those groups. Not to mention the uncertainty in the secondary may lead us to keep an extra guy there. Regardless, if we keep 6 WR’s then we lose someone with real talent elsewhere, so it should be an interesting preseason. Nothing is set in stone just yet, we have all preseason to let the competition sort itself out.

tealskin–This team never likes to carry 3 qb’s, but I think this year we will. T-Jack is the best backup we could possibly have; he knows the offense and if anything happens to RW, I think he could win a SB with us; BUT, he is getting older too and likely will try to find a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere next season, and Seattle has no one ready to replace him. Thus, bringing in Pryor and Price to duke it out with Daniels. I think Seattle really hopes one at least of those three steps up and can be the backup when T-Jack leaves, and thats why I think they keep 3 qb’s this year, back to two only next year. Its also possible they try to get Daniels and Price to the PS if Pryor turns out well.

with a weak crop of QB’s and older ones league wide, i’d be wary of letting Price or Pryor go, i think they’d be scooped up before they made it back to our PS. I also think Rice should start the season on IR so they can hang onto someone like Kearse or another. Lockette might be fast and a special teams gunner, but i don’t want him on the team anymore if he’s buddies with Kap.

STTBM- Think you’re stating the thinking that brought TP to Seattle in the first place. Its just that there are only 3 or 4 positions on the offensive roster that are what I would consider open so a 3rd qb seems a little fluffy. Preseason will probably sort all this out. Maybe TP bombs? Or TJ?

exactly tealskin; Seattle brought tons of competition in to let the cream (if there is any!) rise to the top. Whether or not they keep 3 QB’s depends heavily on how many qb’s–and which ones–step up and play well. If no one does well, I expect them to go with 2 and put whoever clears waivers on the PS. If Pryor looks promising, he will make the team as he wont clear waivers and Im unsure of his PS eligibility. Price has an uphill battle, but is iffy to make it to the PS. Daniels is the same as Price–SF may snatch him back if we waive him. Everything will sort itself out in time, but I think Seattle HOPES to need 3 qb’s on the active roster; that would mean Pryor or Price or Daniels stepped up so well they cant afford to cut them…but make no mistake, Seattle has no intention of keeping three unless one shows sure signs of being able to be the backup next season and beyond..

Slave, I agree with you on a good many of your points, but have to disagree with you on Sidney Rice. I used to think he was overrated, but my opinion changed after he went out last year. It seemed like when the other team locked their best CB on Tate, all we had was Baldwin, and scrappy and feisty as he is, he is not a big target. Huge catching radius is not something he can develop, no matter how angry he gets. The only big target RW had was Miller, but he’s painfully slow.
We really missed Sidney Rice and his threat down the red line.

Proof of Wilson still favoring his left shoulder can be seen on the Super Bowl SoundFx. You can see that when they are getting the Gatorade ready to pour on PC, Russ subtly asks Zach Miller to switch sides, I think so that he can lift the Gatorade cooler with his good right arm.

I’m not discounting the left shoulder injury, and some are even speculating that he had surgery, which would’ve been tough to hide from everyone, I would think. But compared to 2012, RW really started struggling after Rice went out, which was the opposite of his 2012 trend, when he started ballin’ out during the last 8 games. I don’t think we lose to SF on the road and AZ at CLink if we still have Rice and our passing game is not anemic like it was towards the end of the year.

Hopefully with a healthy Harvin and with Baldwin and Kearse stepping up as well as the rookies flashing once in awhile, our passing game and offense as a whole can take that next step in their evolution. The biggest piece to that is PH and the versatility and dynamic playmaking that he brings. I really hope Rice returns to form by mid-season at least so he can help us on our stretch run during our brutal last quarter of games and into the playoffs.

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